FAST FORWARD!

I (Cathy) am now in Rogers, Arkansas and today will be heading for what my sister and I affectionatly call....WAR EAGLE.....which is a huge. and I mean BIG....maybe gigantic is a better word...collection of craft fairs surrounding Rogers...Bentonville, Bella Vista...each town has several of these going on all at once, perhaps totalling over 5,000 different booths!!! Ah mazing.  I try to join my sis and several of her good friends for this special weekend whenever I can.  Last year I announced that "next" year I would be here camping because I would be on our adventure. Well, to be honest, I never thought that would happen, but lo and behold....it did.  So, I leave Paul and Fiona to fend as best they can, while I get my annual infusion of autumn leaves, awesome crafts, kettle corn and good times!
So now to catch up...we did Yellowstone in a day, we will go back, promise, but ate a good lunch in the Lodge, saw Ol Faithful go off, viewed the scenery and saw a buffalo, left Cody area and headed back to the KC, MO area for a couple of  weeks, then headed south to Branson, Mo to meet up with long-time friends Karen and Ron, Branson is their thing, but we had a good time visiting with them between all the shows they attended! Now, as I said, we are in Rogers, Arkansas so that is actually catching up to real time!  horay!!!

 

 

This short video gives you a bit of an idea what is in store for the weekend....taken last year! 

Tally ho,

Cathy

PS.....we get silly in Arkansas....

Totally Wild Bill!

We had reservations for several nights at Buffalo Bill Cody State Park outside Cody, Wyoming...an
easy drive from Custer State Park....with an overnight in a Walmart Parking Lot and a surprise visit from fellow travelers and friends Brian and Marla...we enjoyed visiting, catching up on travels and learing about new places we should see while on the road.  Brian and Marla are very seasoned travelers with lots of good ideas and suggestions....we have taken them up on several which have proved excellent!

 

The Irma Hotel was owned by Buffalo Bill, named for his daughter and is still in operation.  the flag below the American flag is Wyoming state flag, very impressive!  We had lunch at the Irma, very very good!

We arrived in Cody and drove outside of town a few short miles, past the dam and there was the beautiful resevoir surrounded by amazing mountains.  We were really excited to be there until the guy at the gate informed us he had given our reserved site away and there were no more elec. sites to be had!  Long story short...we had a huge incident with the rude and bully ranger...who ended up comping us two nights for our inconvenience and we decided to get over our indignation and enjoy the scenery and our time and WE DID....  

 

We stayed here

Our site....

 

 

 

The resevoir...kind of smoky because of the fires in the area...



 

we enjoyed visiting the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum....what a treasure and certainly worth every minute we spent there....took us two days to see just some of the 5 different museums incorporated into the building.

 

 

 

 

These mule deer were resting in town in someone's yard....we thought they were plastic yard ornaments!

 

We have been taking tons of pix of the wild life....

 

 

Isn't he cute?

This is a big ol Bull Bison.....

 

Same guy, better shot, still foggy!

 

I guess we will do Yellowstone next!

Tally-ho,

Cathy

 



And a little further west you have....

THE BLACK HILLS 

 

Our "objective" was a visit to Mt. Rushmore...we planned to stay at Custer State Park which is close to the town Custer, SD.  We had no idea how incredible the area was, but we soon found out that Mt. Rushmore isn't the only wonder to be seen!

 

 

 

This is Sylvan Lake located just inside Custer State Park.  We followed the path around the lake which took us behind those beautiful rock formations you see.

Once again, the weather was perfect and it was an easy and enjoyable walk.

 

 

The path led us through a walled passageway....

 

 

 

And up above the lake...what a view!

 

 

 

Then, we drove the famous "Needles" Highway which took us through very small tunnels and around hairpin curves...but oh what sights

 

 

 

We happened upon a few mountain goats...isn't he something?

 

 

Another tunnel....

 

 

 

And then back to our campground.  That was our first day....The next day we visited Mt. Rushmore by way of the Wild Life Loop

 

 

We had a nice chat with some of the burros....

 

 

 

This big guy walked right along beside our car!

 

The prong horn sheep are beautiful, we were able to see several does with their babies

 

 

 

 

There were several more tunnels to pass through and more very winding roads, here is a famous shot of the Rushmore sculpture through one of the openings of a tunnel...

 

 

 

We were there on Sept. 11...the flag at half mast

 

Very impressive.  We had our lunch and visited the exhibits.  Another wonderful adventure.  This is the condensed version of our travels...when we get finished, I plan on making one huge slide show of lots more photos and you are all invited to come see...bring a sleeping bag and we will provide the popcorn!

Coming soon...our Cody visit and a great shot of Old Faithful!!!  I know you can't wait!

Tally ho,

Cathy